Last Updated:
During the interview, President Parmelin emphasised that, with out India, world AI will stay unequal
Swiss President Guy Parmelin stated Switzerland is eager to construct on the momentum created by earlier AI summits, particularly the landmark assembly in New Delhi. File pic/ANI
The AI Impact Summit in New Delhi introduced collectively world political leaders, policymakers, and high know-how executives for high-level discussions on the way forward for synthetic intelligence, its governance, and its position in shaping economies and societies. Leaders and delegations from international locations together with Switzerland, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Bolivia, Greece, and several other different nations attended the summit, alongside senior executives from world know-how corporations resembling Google and OpenAI.
On the sidelines of the summit, CNN-News18 spoke with Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who outlined Switzerland’s imaginative and prescient for inclusive and reliable AI, highlighted India’s rising management position in shaping world AI cooperation, and spoke concerning the deepening financial and know-how partnership between New Delhi and Bern.
Edited excerpts:
In a current article, you body AI as a power that should be made “extra equal”. Yet critics say global AI governance discussions too often reflect Western priorities, not voices from the Global South. How will Switzerland ensure that AI policies shaped with India are genuinely global, not just Western-endorsed frameworks dressed up in consensus language?
Switzerland strongly welcomes and supports India’s push to build global cooperation on AI so that countries everywhere can develop, adopt, and deploy the technology in ways that genuinely benefit their citizens. Switzerland was closely involved in shaping the AI Impact Summit, contributing across all seven workstreams and co-chairing the group focused on empowerment and social inclusion. We firmly believe that AI must be democratised. That means making AI tools more affordable and accessible, ensuring systems can be scaled, replicated, and adapted across sectors, and investing in people by strengthening AI literacy, education, and skills. At the same time, Switzerland supports global efforts to promote secure, trustworthy, and resilient AI systems that are both efficient and reliable.
India and Switzerland have signed a free trade agreement under the EFTA framework. What tangible gains should Indian and Swiss businesses expect in the next 12 to 24 months, and what are the toughest political or regulatory bottlenecks that could still blunt the agreement’s impact?
The agreement has been in force for just over four months, so it is still too early to draw firm conclusions. That said, past experience suggests trade volumes are likely to grow. We also anticipate a rise in investments from EFTA countries into India.
The EU and India recently signed what has been called “the mother of all deals”—a sweeping commerce and strategic partnership. Switzerland just isn’t an EU member. Does Switzerland now see a chance to broaden its personal bilateral commerce with India to faucet into its 1.4 billion-strong market? If so, what concrete sectors are you focusing on, and the way shortly?
India and Switzerland have lately deepened their financial partnership, most notably via the India–EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement. Under the pact, India has provided Switzerland considerably improved market entry for almost 95 per cent of current Swiss exports, excluding gold. Key sectors already stand to learn. Swiss watches and most classes of equipment get pleasure from zero-duty entry, whereas a big share of chemical merchandise additionally receives beneficial therapy. In providers, Switzerland good points a stronger entry into India’s monetary sector, with New Delhi allowing greater international fairness caps and introducing clearer, extra clear licensing norms.
Switzerland plans to host the subsequent world AI Summit in Geneva in 2027. What concrete outcomes from the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi do you hope will form the agenda for that occasion?
Switzerland is eager to construct on the momentum created by earlier AI summits, particularly the landmark assembly in New Delhi, and stays dedicated to working with all companions to make sure the advantages of AI attain folks in all places, with out leaving anybody behind. Going ahead, Switzerland will anchor its efforts within the ideas agreed on the Delhi summit. These embody strengthening human capital, increasing entry to AI for social empowerment, guaranteeing AI techniques are reliable and energy-efficient, selling using AI in science, democratising AI assets, and harnessing AI for financial progress and social good. To flip these concepts into motion, Switzerland helps voluntary cooperation frameworks and can interact with all stakeholders prepared to provide the summit course of a clearer, extra sustainable, but agile and environment friendly working construction.
February 20, 2026, 16:24 IST
Read More
